Millennials either fearless or clueless about need for insurance

While we often discuss homeowners insurance, we know that not everyone owns a home. Research shows that millennials — the generation born between 1980 and 2000 — tend to rent rather than to own. A recent poll shows, though, that millennials may not understanding some of the risks of renting or, perhaps, may not be worried about how to protect themselves.

Earlier this year, Harris Interactive conducted a poll for Nationwide Insurance, asking more than 1,000 renters, all between the ages of 23 and 35, about renters insurance. It turns out this generation has a lot to learn.

More than half the respondents did not have renters insurance. Of those without insurance, three-quarters were not aware of the low cost of coverage, and 40 percent did not think it was necessary.

While coverage may not be necessary, 68 percent of the respondents said they had personal property worth more than $5,000; 24 percent said they would save their laptops first. Family heirlooms, personal valuables and mobile phones ranked lower. If anecdotal evidence is worth anything, a friend of ours told us that when the fire alarm in her apartment building went off, her millennial neighbors arrived outside without shoes on but clutching their laptops to their chests.

It may be expensive to replace their belongings, but that does not seem to have affected their risk analysis: Forty-one percent said they were most afraid of fire, and 31 percent said theft was their greatest concern. Three percent put a zombie apocalypse at the top of their list.